The speaker was Dan Savage, founder of the “It Gets Better” project, an anti-bullying campaign that has reached more than 40 million viewers with contributors ranging from President Obama to Hollywood stars. Savage also writes a sex advice column called “Savage Love.”

Savage, and his husband, were also guests at the White House for President Obama’s 2011 LGBT Pride Month reception. He was also invited to a White House anti-bullying conference.

Savage was supposed to be delivering a speech about anti-bullying at the National High School Journalism Conference sponsored by the Journalism Education Association and the National Scholastic Press Association. But it turned into an episode of Christian-bashing.

Rick Tuttle, the journalism advisor for Sutter Union High School in California, was among several thousand people in the audience. He said they thought the speech was one thing – but it turned into something else.

“I thought this would be about anti-bullying,” Tuttle told Fox news. “It turned into a pointed attack on Christian beliefs.”

Tuttle said a number of his students were offended by Savage’s remarks – and some decided to leave the auditorium.

“It became hostile,” he said. “It felt hostile as we were sitting in the audience – especially towards Christians who espouse beliefs that he was literally taking on.”

Tuttle said the speech was laced with vulgarities and “sexual innuendo not appropriate for this age group.” At one point, he said Savage told the teenagers about how good his partner looked in a speedo.

The conservative website CitizenLink was the first to report about the controversy. They interviewed a 17-year-old girl who was one of students who walked out of the auditorium.

“The first thing he told the audience was, ‘I hope you’re all using birth control,’” she told CitizenLink. “he said there are people using the Bible as an excuse for gay bullying, because it says in Leviticus and Romans that being gay is wrong. Right after that, he said we can ignore all the (expletive deleted) in the Bible.”

As the teenagers were walking out, Tuttle said that Savage heckled them and called them pansy-assed.

“You can tell the Bible guys in the hall they can come back now because I’m done beating up the Bible,” Savage said as other students hollered and cheered. “It’s funny as someone who is on the receiving end of beatings that are justified by the Bible how pansy-assed people react when you push back.”

The executive director of the National Scholastic Press Association provided Fox News with joint statement from the Journalism Education Association that was sent to members – after a number of people complained about Savage’s remarks.

“We appreciate the level of thoughtfulness and deliberation regarding Dan Savage’s keynote address,” the NSPA wrote. “some audience members who felt hurt by his words and tone decided to leave in the middle of his speech, and to this, we want to make our point very clear: While as a journalist it’s important to be able to listen to speech that offends you, these students and advisers had simply reached their tolerance level for what they were willing to hear.”

The NSPA said they did not have a prior transcript of Savage’s speech and that wish “he had stayed more on target for the audience of teen journalists.” They also said it provided a “teachable moment” for students.

As for Savage’s attack on people of faith?

“While some of his earlier comments were so strongly worded that they shook some of our audience members, it is never the intent of JEA or NSPA to let students get hurt during their time at our conventions,” they wrote.

However, not once did the NSPA or the JEA offer any apologies to the students or faculty advisors or anyone else in attendance.

Savage did offer a sarcastic apology “if I hurt anyone’s feelings.”

“But I have a right to defend myself and to point out the hypocrisy of people who justify anti-gay bigotry by pointing to the Bible and insisting we must live by the code of Leviticus on this one issue and no other.”

Tuttle said that he “felt duped” by the event. “There were Christian schools who went to the conference. To have this happen was disappointing and shocking.”

The NSPA said they should have done a better job preparing schools for what to expect.

For his part, Tuttle said that he will definitely be more cautious about the speakers at future conventions.Tuttle related how Savage told students that for a number of years he was not allowed in schools. He told the students that because it’s gained national acceptance “he’s reveling in the fact that it’s basically a middle finger to all those teachers and administrators who wouldn’t let him have access to those students before.”

But for some of Tuttle’s students – they felt like the anti-bullying activist was in fact – the bully.

As ever, the politically correct fascist perverts who scream loudest against hatred, bigotry, bullying, etc. are the biggest proponents and practitioners of all those things against everyone who disagrees with their evil agenda. A "teachable moment" indeed! Today's lesson: an "anti-bullying" group is just another politically correct hate group.

I despise hypocracy....and political correctness. Especially when those who feel they are the most PC are busy spouting hatred and insults. And I must say I am tired of the fact that some folks think that you must hate Christianity to be properly PC. They feel that their right to say such nonsense is far greater than your right to feel as you do,in other words,pro-Christianity. However,I am also a huge believer in everyone's right to Free Speech so I choose to simply ignore their hateful words and hope they get the turn around they so desperately need. And learn that tirades like that do not belong in a speech to children. They trust the older people to teach and guide them....what does that sort of venom teach?

I do hate it when people feel entitled to attack and abuse others because others have done it to them. It's hardly self defense when you're an honoured guest and people are there to listen to you. And in any case, two wrongs do not make a right. If you purport to be the good guy, take the high ground and show people why you're the good guy.

I guess when this numbnuts chooses to ignore what's in the bible, that includes the bit about treating others the way you want to be treated. That seems wonderfully applicable to this exact situation.

FOXNEWS. Consider the source. I know I'll receive a ration of s**t for that. I don't care. I don't disagree fundamentally with the message of the article. In fact, I agree wholeheartedly that their is a tremendous amount of un-checked hypocrisy involved. I just don't trust the agenda of whoever wrote the article because it's from FOX. The writer of the article is clearly seething with his own hatred.

There are those on this forum that insist that FOX is sort of an equalizer in the media because the majority of the media is left-leaning. It's true. The majority of the mainstream media DOES lean left. I get it. But as a result of this, FOX overcompensates by leaning so far to the right as to be incapable of objectivity. And so, because of this, and I know I'm going to hear it for this from the rather vocal rightists on the board, I can actually trust any single one of the so-called "lefty" media sources more than FOX because they don't lean so hard. I'm not saying they aren't slanted, I'm saying they are a little closer to objectivity than FOX. May I burn in Hell for saying that.

Don't get me wrong, FOX is simply one of any number of news sources I go to, but I don't trust ANY of them that much. ALL mainstream media acts as a propaganda tool for somebody. To paraphrase George Carlin, I don't believe ANYTHING the government tells me, and I don't take the press very seriously either. The fact that anybody would take FOX seriously is amusing. I don't fault anybody for taking a political position in line with FOX's agenda, and more power to them, but please don't try telling me they can be trusted to provide an objective analysis.

Personally, I would love it if FOX only leaned slightly to the right. If they did, they would probably be my newsource of choice.

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I don't always talk about bad movies, but when I do, I prefer badmovies.org

“It became hostile,” he said. “It felt hostile as we were sitting in the audience – especially towards Christians who espouse beliefs that he was literally taking on.”

Should a gay man NOT be hostile towards those who literally believe gay men should be killed outright?

It seems like he was overreacting to something that wasn't really there, and did come across as a bit of an ass (which, from the couple other times I've seen Savage, seems to be par for the course), but that's about all I'd say. Tossing out insults is not the same thing as bullying.

Also, yes, the tone/wording of this article is ridiculous. It should be on the editorial page.

Quote

“But I have a right to defend myself and to point out the hypocrisy of people who justify anti-gay bigotry by pointing to the Bible and insisting we must live by the code of Leviticus on this one issue and no other.”

That drives me up the wall. There's so much weird crap in Leviticus so many Christians just completely ignore while so strongly holding to a handful of lines out of it. It drives me up the wall.

There is no objectivity possible among the participants of this scenario, none whatsoever, and this most definitely includes Dan Savage. Just so we're not relying on a heavily biased source's interpretation of the event in question, here's a clip of the event itself:

So here you have a situation where Dan Savage, who has suffered real bullying at times in his life, some of it using Biblical belief as it's justification, is acting in a way that nobody will ever be able to convince him is any different than "defending himself," or "fighting back." In this way, he is unable to be objective, or treat Christian belief in an objective way. Now, and I'm sure this will convince some that I am defending his inappropriate actions in this case, Dan Savage has given presentations in which he has attempted to convince gays that Christian family should be given a good deal of slack and understanding when coming out. In other words, there are times when he has advocated a tolerant attitude. But ultimately he will never be swayed from his belief that he is fighting back, and because of what he is, he will be embraced by the left and demonized by the right. It's a war afterall, and that's what enemies do in a war. And war, whether literal or figurative, is the primary way in which Americans process issues. The war on drugs, the war on poverty, the war on terrorism, the war on (insert issue), and I am certainly not isolating conservatives in this.

Now, of the hundred or so people that walked out, why did they walk out? Some probably felt uncomfortable, some probably simply didn't want to listen to a gay man talk. There were some walking out well before things got genuinely nasty.Now, I doubt that all of them have bullied gay people before, using the Bible as their justification. There is a good chance that the majority of them have not. Hell, there is a chance (although I doubt it) that none of them have. It is unfair that those people had to be pidgeon-holed and lambasted, and Dan Savage was most definitely acting inappropriately. I would be willing to bet it's not the first time he has let his emotions get the better of him in such a situation. Again he is certain that he is doing nothing more than fighting back, and nobody is going to convince him otherwise. Add to that the fact that he has a tremendous amount of support and cheering on his side. That f**ks with people.

I will use an analogy that I know is not perfect. But in Belfast, where my wife is from, there was once a bitter, violent struggle between the Irish and the British loyalists, both of whom relied on religious identity to justify their positions. The Irish, who retaliated against tanks in their neighborhoods and routine oppression by running guns and planting bombs, would never be convinced that they were terrorists. They were fighting back. Whatever inappropriate actions they committed were justified as acts of retaliation. The British loyalists, of course, were certain that they were justified in their treatment of the Irish. This situation is not much different. So we can take sides in the war if we want, but in doing so, we are, at least to some degree, abandoning reason and objectivity.

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Very good commentary. I guess I will have to say something after all. I will say this - having grown up in Southern Baptist Churches, and been a part of a strongly Christian community of friends and associates my whole life - I have only known a very small handful of Christians who preach hatred against homosexuals, and only one who advocated violence (other than a few brainless teenagers who were macho posturing; my usual response to such rhetoric is "Christ died to save them as much as He did to save you, which means He loves them as much as He loves you." That usually shuts them up.) No Christian church that I am aware of teaches the Levitical death penalty for homosexuality (I do not consider the Westboro Baptist goons to be Christians at all), and indeed that law was ONLY for the ancient Biblical nation of Israel. The Bible simply teaches that homosexuality is a sin. So is adultery. So is lust. So is sex outside of marriage. So is stealing, slander, lying, murder, and lots of other things, many of which are NOT a crime under any civil law. Humans are all addicted to sinful behavior of one sort or another; that is why Christ had to sacrifice Himself to save us - we were incapable of saving ourselves.

God loves fags. He just doesn't love what they do. Frankly, He doesn't like some of the things I do either. All that means is that all of us need mercy and grace - so we should all show more of it to each other.

FOX News is tepid right at best and the fact that many can't stand it or five guys on radio not controlled by an Atlantic Ocean of Left-wing bias says more about them. But, rather than get bogged down on what any person can plainly see for themselves, this Gay guy and his husband and whoever the hell else thinks it's brave to attack Christians do it only because they know there won't be a violent, or any, backlash and they'll get away with it. This has nothing to do with 'anti' bullying, rather it is incorporating bullying, in this case, by far-left extremists who now have a home in, sadly, this White House. The far greater danger of say, oh, Muslim extremists who would have executed this dude and his 'husband' will never get a tongue lashing from him or people like him. The seething hatred of the Left in this country on display and at this conference is a microcosm of what has been going on for decades in University, media nd now the reigns of govt. I learned that long ago, before FOX News and five guys on radio were ever on the air.

There is no objectivity possible among the participants of this scenario, none whatsoever, and this most definitely includes Dan Savage. Just so we're not relying on a heavily biased source's interpretation of the event in question, here's a clip of the event itself:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alXxsKLVofM

So here you have a situation where Dan Savage, who has suffered real bullying at times in his life, some of it using Biblical belief as it's justification, is acting in a way that nobody will ever be able to convince him is any different than "defending himself," or "fighting back." In this way, he is unable to be objective, or treat Christian belief in an objective way. Now, and I'm sure this will convince some that I am defending his inappropriate actions in this case, Dan Savage has given presentations in which he has attempted to convince gays that Christian family should be given a good deal of slack and understanding when coming out. In other words, there are times when he has advocated a tolerant attitude. But ultimately he will never be swayed from his belief that he is fighting back, and because of what he is, he will be embraced by the left and demonized by the right. It's a war afterall, and that's what enemies do in a war. And war, whether literal or figurative, is the primary way in which Americans process issues. The war on drugs, the war on poverty, the war on terrorism, the war on (insert issue), and I am certainly not isolating conservatives in this.

Now, of the hundred or so people that walked out, why did they walk out? Some probably felt uncomfortable, some probably simply didn't want to listen to a gay man talk. There were some walking out well before things got genuinely nasty.Now, I doubt that all of them have bullied gay people before, using the Bible as their justification. There is a good chance that the majority of them have not. Hell, there is a chance (although I doubt it) that none of them have. It is unfair that those people had to be pidgeon-holed and lambasted, and Dan Savage was most definitely acting inappropriately. I would be willing to bet it's not the first time he has let his emotions get the better of him in such a situation. Again he is certain that he is doing nothing more than fighting back, and nobody is going to convince him otherwise. Add to that the fact that he has a tremendous amount of support and cheering on his side. That f**ks with people.

I will use an analogy that I know is not perfect. But in Belfast, where my wife is from, there was once a bitter, violent struggle between the Irish and the British loyalists, both of whom relied on religious identity to justify their positions. The Irish, who retaliated against tanks in their neighborhoods and routine oppression by running guns and planting bombs, would never be convinced that they were terrorists. They were fighting back. Whatever inappropriate actions they committed were justified as acts of retaliation. The British loyalists, of course, were certain that they were justified in their treatment of the Irish. This situation is not much different. So we can take sides in the war if we want, but in doing so, we are, at least to some degree, abandoning reason and objectivity.

So, Flick you think You Tube is unbiased,you do realise people can edit clips? I will agree it's a war and the guy writting about it justifyiing this guys attack just picked a side.

Very good commentary. I guess I will have to say something after all. I will say this - having grown up in Southern Baptist Churches, and been a part of a strongly Christian community of friends and associates my whole life - I have only known a very small handful of Christians who preach hatred against homosexuals, and only one who advocated violence (other than a few brainless teenagers who were macho posturing; my usual response to such rhetoric is "Christ died to save them as much as He did to save you, which means He loves them as much as He loves you." That usually shuts them up.) No Christian church that I am aware of teaches the Levitical death penalty for homosexuality (I do not consider the Westboro Baptist goons to be Christians at all), and indeed that law was ONLY for the ancient Biblical nation of Israel. The Bible simply teaches that homosexuality is a sin. So is adultery. So is lust. So is sex outside of marriage. So is stealing, slander, lying, murder, and lots of other things, many of which are NOT a crime under any civil law. Humans are all addicted to sinful behavior of one sort or another; that is why Christ had to sacrifice Himself to save us - we were incapable of saving ourselves.

God loves fags. He just doesn't love what they do. Frankly, He doesn't like some of the things I do either. All that means is that all of us need mercy and grace - so we should all show more of it to each other.